Bounty
by banjo larry
Summary: One shot - A bounty hunter finds herself to be weak willed against the unintentional charm of her newest target.


This is an AU from Tumblr. My writing needs work, so constructive criticism is accepted. Sorry in advance for the moods kind of changing at random intervals in the story. You'll understand what I mean if you make it to the end. Probably should've been a bit more careful with that, but I really just wanted to finish. Please review if you've got the time.

Thanks for reading :)

The truck growled as it rumbled over the rough terrain of uncharted road, clucking sharply as loose gravel sprayed its underside. Dry dirt flew blindingly from its large tires, leaving dusty trails in its wake. The sun was barely peeking over the distant mountains, surrounding sky tinted a light pink as the vehicle sped through the open trail. Its huge bodice bucked as it effortlessly cleared a lift in the ground.

Silence had enveloped the interior of the truck, the eerie howls of nocturnal animals unheard over the soft hum of the radio. Static hissed occasionally as the truck continued its race away from the city, engine never offered any release from the punishing speed. Even within city limits it never slowed once.

The already wavering radio was slowly overwhelmed entirely by the insistent white noise, earning an annoyed grunt from the female driver as the station was switched repeatedly with sharp, impatient flicks of their wrist. Pop music finally sputtered from the speakers after a few seconds of momentary silence, and the girl settled back into the leather seat with an approving nod, eyes never leaving the soft indention that was the road.

Drives like this were something she always favored. The dark accompanied by the quiet buzz of music. It was just something she always found to be incredibly relaxing. When there wasn't an unconscious girl in the backseat. There was something about that added body that always had a way of ruining the peaceful drive, for whatever silly reason.

"I _should_ be used to it by now, I suppose," the driver mused quietly to herself, shifting the hat atop her head before consulting the small clock installed on her dashboard. 4:37. The drugs she be wearing off anytime now.

This one had been a bit more difficult than the last few she had come across. Much more time and planning had been taken than her usual quick finds. But the girl seemed to have known what she was doing, in her defense, up until the careless mistake she made that landed her in the backseat of an unknown truck. She, the concealed girl in the front seat had taken to calling Fox, had practically fallen off the edge of the world, as soon as the warrant had been officially sealed by one of the more wanted illegal groups she had come into contact with. She had named them personally as Erasers. Anyone who was successfully captured and returned to them - for rather desirable amounts of cash - were completely erased from the records.

It have been broadcasted to be extremely public to all the hired Chasers, not just within the limits of her state like they normally were. Could've been considered international, even.

The clever female was notably skilled in comparison to the ones she had targeted before, quick to erase herself from every social website that she had accounted herself with (something the previous targets stupidly almost always forgot to do), became disengaged with all contacts - that she was aware of - and fled with no easily distinguishable tracks. Very precise.

She chuckled dryly, exhaustion clear in her sharp tone as she gave the bound girl another fleeting glance, cheek grazing the metal that separated the two.

"Sorry to be the one to end the chase," she muttered sarcastically, fatigue welling in her rather small body as she mulled over the fact the she was basically the death of the girl. She would've been caught eventually, of course. The people they were working for rewarded them with a seemingly unending flow of cash, and there was already at least a dozen known Chasers tracking her. But guilt was overwhelming in the work and everyone was positive at 90% of the targets had done no real crimes, so she couldn't even excuse herself with the 'did it for the safety of others' bullcrap.

The girl's head lolled limply in response as they rolled over a rougher patch of rocks, before falling back into place against the reinforced, darkly tinted window with a painful sounding thump.

"But you must be at least a little proud of the money they laid on your capture. They obviously held you in high expectations," she nodded to the snorting girl. And they definitely had. This was the most money she had ever been offered for a chase, and she had passed up a decent amount money on other offered bounties simply for the added focus on this one alone. But the pay made up for it by far; almost enough to make her question who the girl had tangled with to be worth so much.

Almost.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Was worth it anyway. Oh, _and_," she paused, regarding the posted clock again, "it's about time you wake up."

She gripped the steering wheel tightly and threw it violently to the side, veering off the unmapped road without concern of crashing, simply skidding into more emptiness. The truck bounced aggressively as she swerved to the side once more after hearing nothing in the backseat, only returning to the road when she received a strangled cry.

"The _fuck_!"

"Oh cool, you're awake."

Fox hissed as she was nearly thrown into the small space between the seat and the gate, struggling to balance herself after escaping the trap of the seat without accessible hands. She finally managed to sit up straight after a few seconds of struggling, panting tiredly as her dull green eyes immediately began to take in her closed surroundings, freezing once her wild gaze landed on the driver.

"Hey there." The hat-donning girl smirked lightly, watching as the girls curious expression suddenly turned to horror. The beginnings of guilt began to tug at her insides, a trademark for the moment of realization in all of her targets eyes, but she quickly choked them back. Both remained in relative silence before the girl suddenly huffed, tossing her head back with a grunt.

"Whatever the fuck I did, I'm so sorry. Some jerk spiked my drinks last night, I swear," she rambled with a sheepishly spent expression, shoulders jerking as she began to wrestle with the cuffs binding her wrists behind her back. She suddenly froze again as a look of terror came to her face. "Oh God. Was that _your _dog? I swear that guy said her type of breed was built for that type of stuff. He lied, obviously, but what happened wasn't what I was hoping for."

The Chaser was at a loss for words, nearly running over a braying coyote as she gawked at the girl. This wasn't normally the way people reacted upon waking up in the backseat of her truck. They would normally begin screaming and thrashing, trying to kick out the windows, some of the more knowingly valuable ones going as far as to throwing themselves at the offending gate. She had actually been kicked in the jaw during the delivery on her first target, hence the gate's existence within her truck in the first place. Damn truck nearly flew off a cliff. But never had they apologized. She coughed awkwardly, genuinely thrown off by the girl's behavior.

"Ehm, no, that wasn't my dog."

She heard her captive release a stiff gasp of relief as she returned her confused gaze to the road. "Oh, thank God. From what I actually remember, that dog is seriously messed up. I feel really bad about it, actually. Dogs are my favorite animal, y'know?" Driver merely gave a soft nod, nibbling on her lip as she contemplated whether or not the girl had past mental issues. She seemed coherent at the party she had tracked her to last night. Before she was drugged, anyway.

She looked in the rearview mirror to see Fox's thoughtful expression before going back to struggling. "I must've done something else stupid, then," she muttered distractedly as she tugged blindly at the cuffs. The driver nodded mutely in agreement. "Yeah, you must've done something pretty stupid." The girl's weak struggles stopped for a moment before she sucked in a sharp breath.

"Was your shed recently on fire?" she guessed weakly, biting her lip as she looked at the curly haired driver. "There was some weird dude doing some crazy stuff there before I even came in. I wanted to see if his claims that he was indeed _not _summoning satan were true, so I pulled out my lighter. I was not alerted beforehand about the involvement of gasoline in his little project. I refuse to take blame for his foolish rituals."

"I really don't-"

"He was most definitely summoning satan, by the way. I cleansed your shed of lingering evil with fire."

"Well, I'm-"

"_Cleansed._"

When the girl said nothing more, the driver shook her head. "_No._ There have been no recent satanic rituals in my shed," she assured her, voice wavering in disbelief toward the end. The girl in the backseat scoffed in defeat, visibly straining in an attempt to remember the reason of why she had woke up in a caged truck. Her head suddenly snapped upward, making unhesitant eye contact with the driver. "Has your car been covered in super glued condoms-"

"Oh my God."

Fox growled in annoyance, thrusting her bound arms outward to emphasize her confusion. "I have absolutely no idea then. Care to enlighten me _why_ I've been kidnapped?"

Driver shook her head with a scowl. "I was considering asking the same thing once you woke up, but if all the stuff you've been telling me says anything, I'm not really at a loss as to why you've got money on your head," she hissed, batting a curl of hair out of her face as the truck began to speed up. "At least now I can ease my guilt telling myself there's a _reason, _even if its just a condom covered car."

"Whoa, _what_? What do you mean _money on my head_? The fuck does that even mean?" Fox suddenly snapped, her struggles renewed as she began to fumble with the momentarily forgotten bonds. Her concentrated huffs immediately filled the closed space, face turning red from exertion as she tried to pry her wrists apart, wincing when the thin metal dug into her flesh.

Driver shrugged, more accustomed to the struggling and huffing and frustration. Her previous confusion turned to a solemnness for the young girl she was taking to her death. "No idea, Fox. I don't tend to waste time asking questions when I see numbers like yours," she admitted softly, shame creeping up her spine when she saw the helpless look in her target's eyes. They snapped up to the mirror.

"Okay, first of all, why are you kidnapping me if you don't even know if I did anything in the first place? Second, who the hell is _Fox_?"

"Money is money, friend. I have to pay bills somehow," she murmured, voice so low the girl strained to hear what she was saying. The shame that had been creeping up on her was now rolling like waves through her chest, the blunt statement only worsening it. A blush stained her cheeks as she regarded the second question. "I didn't know your name, so I made one up," she replied simply, forcing herself to not meet the burning eyes of the girl.

A new silence enveloped the truck right away. Even the radio began to hiss as its weak connection worsened, plunging the vehicle into thick, uncomfortable quietness. It made the Chaser's heart plummet, bile rising in her throat. What was it with this target? She always felt a raging guilt, no matter how many obscenities her captives threw at her. But this one was actually skirting painful. Had been for a while, in fact.

"Ellie."

The driver's head snapped upward so violently her neck popped. "What?"

"My name's Ellie," the girl growled louder, slowly raising her gaze to me hers. "I've heard of... _this _before. The bounties. Nothing exactly pleasant. I figure since I'm most likely gonna die within the next few hours, probably something worse than death, my killer should know my name," she replied simply, voice void of emotion. "And Fox is a stupid name. Your face is stupid. You could've at least named me something cool. Like Hunter or Fireball or some shit like that."

Driver blinked. "Fireball?"

"Because I'm a fuckin' _flame. _And I also, indirectly set someone's shed on fire; that could contribute as well, I suppose."

The pain in her chest suddenly struck her like a bat. "Of course. Well, since you've given me your name, I guess it's only fair I give you mine. Name's Clementine. Pleased to meet you." _Not really._

Ellie scoffed. "Shut up. I'm not forgetting the fact that you're sacrificing me to your cannibal buddies just because you blessed my apparently easily dispensible soul with your name. The trade isn't exactly fair, if that's what you were thinking," she growled, glaring harshly ahead at the passing road as Clementine winced, sighing apologetically. "Yeah, I know. Sorry."

Ellie didn't respond, merely slumping weakly against the seat as she inhaled deeply, arms no longer tugging at the cuffs. Clementine nearly cried out at the overwhelming since of _greed _that overtook her. What the hell was she even doing? She kidnapped and delivered random, sometimes innocent, people to merciless killers for a living. She _sold_ people. She began to scold herself for playing with the earlier thought of Fox- _Ellie's_ mental stability. She was far worse than any cases she had ever heard of.

"I wonder what I did. Must of messed up pretty bad."

"What do you mean?"

Ellie glared at her as though she was stupid. The sky had brightened considerably but their surroundings still retained its shadowy scheme. "I wanna know why your delivering me to these guys like I'm some fuckin' cargo. What did I even do? The worst I've ever done, honestly, is accidentally parachuting onto this rich girl. _Accidentally._"

"How did you manage-"

Ellie suddenly bucked the gate lying strongly before her. "Her umbrella was ridiculously huge and looked like a landing pad, shut up and listen to me grieve."

Clementine clamped her mouth shut.

"I swear, that's the worse. She was only in the hospital for 2 days, too. What a drama queen," she sniggered sheepishly, tossing her messy hair from her face with a flip of her head.

Clementine nodded absentmindedly, tightening her grip on the wheel. With the rising sun casting light over the desert, the first signs of civilization began brewing over the hills of sand. Despite being surrounded by nothing but sand for the last two hours, the sight of town made her chest ache. That was always the mark she used to get an idea of the remaining distance. Last delivery she counted 5 minutes.

"Holy shit."

Ellie suddenly gasped, offended. "Oh, is my mourning bothering you?" she snapped, glaring. An annoyed look crossing her expression as she watched with weary eyes, the oncoming city making her bristle. "Ah, are your friends waiting for you at that creepy, remote town? Well, I must say, the scenery has been absolutely _magnificent. _I think I saw a tumble weed roll over the carcass of a coyote. Is this a sneak peak of Heaven, because the beauty is simply overwhelming."

Clementine ignored her comment, the truck slowly advancing on the town. Their breathing hitched in sync when a truck similar to the one they were driving in rolled slowly around an ancient looking building before disappearing around another corner. Ellie chortled suddenly and Clementine growled.

"I'm relying on you to give me a proper burial, y'know."

_Shut up._

"I can only assume my death will involve fire."

_Shut up._

"Sprinkle me over the shed so our ashes can merge together and form one giant pile of death. My mother would be proud."

_I swear to God._

"We have a lot in common, actually. We're both are really bad at chess. We both can't swim. We were both were lit on fire in an event that most likely revolved around satanic rituals. It was clearly meant to be."

Clementine suddenly slammed her foot to the pedal, tires screeching as they suddenly flew forward. Ellie shrieked fearfully as the drifted with a surprising amount of skill around the street corner, dust flying as they sped forward. When the driver finally hit the brakes, Ellie flew forward, face slamming painfully into the gate. "You're crazier than I thought," she hissed, nursing her bruised cheek her shoulder as she slid back into her place on the leather seat. A pop sounded audibly as the lock on her door flew upward.

She stopped pouting to look at it as though the lock, now visible, had just stomped on a puppy. She glanced up at Clementine only to find her already out of the truck, suddenly appearing on her side, throwing the door open. The short stature of the girl only just occurred to her. She was a lot smaller when she wasn't at helm of the Ship of Death. A snarky comment about her height was just sounding from Ellie when the girl suddenly grabbed her elbow, dragging her toward the opening.

She pulled a key from her pocket with a grunt, reaching upward to unlock the cuffs. They clicked loudly before falling to the seat. Ellie was too shocked to even attempt to jump from the truck. Clementine reached into the opposite pocket before pulling out a wad of cash, shoving it into Ellie's limp palm.

"What in the ever loving fuck is happening."

Clementine tossed her head behind her and Ellie took note of the police station. "You're only wanted by the people I'm working for, not the actual police, so..."

"So...?" Ellie prompted, sliding toward the door.

"Get the hell out of my truck."


End file.
